The following background information may present examples of specific aspects of the prior art (e.g., without limitation, approaches, facts, or common wisdom) that, while expected to be helpful to further educate the reader as to additional aspects of the prior art, is not to be construed as limiting the present invention, or any embodiments thereof, to anything stated or implied therein or inferred thereupon.
The following is an example of a specific aspect in the prior art that, while expected to be helpful to further educate the reader as to additional aspects of the prior art, is not to be construed as limiting the present invention, or any embodiments thereof, to anything stated or implied therein or inferred thereupon.
By way of educational background, another aspect of the prior art generally useful to be aware of is that a card can include a credit card, an identity card, and an EBT card. The most common type of card is a payment card issued to users as a system of payment. It allows the cardholder to pay for goods and services based on the holder's promise to pay for them. The issuer of the card creates a revolving account and grants a line of credit to the cardholder from which the cardholder can borrow money for payment to a merchant or as a cash advance to the cardholder.
Typically, the size of most cards is 3⅜×2⅛ in (85.60×53.98 mm). The cards have a printed or embossed bank card number, a cardholder name, and a card issuer logo on a front side. The back side often includes a magnetic strip that contains data pertinent to the monetary amount of the card, a signature line, and a security code. Often, identification card, credit cards, and EBT cards are designed to be used without having any means of concealing disguising the appearance of the card or its recognizable characteristics.
In many instances, welfare is the provision of a minimal level of well-being and social support for all citizens, sometimes referred to as public aid. Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) is an electronic system that allows state welfare departments to issue benefits through a magnetically encoded payment card, called an EBT card. Common benefits provided through the EBT card are typically of two general categories: food and cash benefits. Food benefits are federally authorized benefits that can be used only to purchase food and non-alcoholic beverages, often in public places. However, in many instances, an individual using a public assistance card in a public location cannot conceal the identity of the EBT card and is subject to public scrutiny.
It is well known that identity theft is a form of stealing someone's identity in which someone pretends to be someone else by assuming that person's identity, usually as a method to gain access to resources or obtain credit and other benefits in that person's name. The most common type is financial identity theft, where an identity thief wants to gain economic benefits by using a victim's name or other identity information. This includes getting credits, loans, goods and services, claiming to be someone else. Stealing bank or credit cards, identification cards, passports, authentication tokens is the most common form of identity theft. This can often be as simple as spying on a card user to view and memorize the information displayed on the card; or simply with the aid of a smart phone camera. Most cards do not have a barrier to cover the important information displayed on the card.
Even though the above cited methods for concealing information on a card address some of the needs of the market, a card identity concealment device for concealing portions of a first side of a card, and enabling access to portions of a second side of the card is still desired.